Defending The JKT-Bandung High Speed Train Project, Denny Siregar: Others Race To Mars, We Are Busy Riding Horses And Archery

Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train. (Photo: Doc. KCIC)

JAKARTA - Social media activist, Denny Siregar defended the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Train (KCJB) project, which received criticism. Denny said, the most expensive thing that Indonesia will get is the transfer of knowledge and technology.

For Denny, these two components are the most valuable things that can be obtained by the infrastructure sector in the country. And there are no exact figures that can assess the benefits of the two components.

"Could other people have raced to Mars, are we still busy riding horses and archery?" tweeted Denny Siregar on his Twitter account, viewed Friday 15 October.

One of the people who criticized the high-speed rail project was senior economist Faisal Basri. However, the Special Staff of the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Arya Sinulingga replied that Faisal's criticism was considered completely wrong.

"We regret what Faisal Basri said, Faisal Basri is completely wrong. Those who say that they will lose forever, it's impossible. Yes, where there is an investor who wants to enter with the condition that they will lose. That's ridiculous. Faisal Basri is really ridiculous," he told reporters, Thursday, October 14th.

Arya also regrets that Faisal's statement is not based on data. According to Arya, what Faisal said was only subjective, so there were no exact figures.

"And it looks like he doesn't use numbers, doesn't use analysis, only subjective things appear. So that's a big mistake. It's a shame that Faisal Basri said that. That's not true," he said.

According to Arya, there are no definite figures regarding the cost overrun or cost overrun for the construction of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project. Currently, the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) is conducting an audit of the cost overrun case.

In fact, the management of PT Kereta Api (Persero) has revealed that the swelling of KCJB reached 3.8 billion to 4.9 billion US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 54 trillion to Rp. 69 trillion.

"I need to say that we are still calculating. Wait a minute. The actual cost overrun appears. After being audited by BPKP, we can only know the actual figure," he said.

Previously, University of Indonesia (UI) senior economist Faisal Basri criticized a number of transportation infrastructure projects built by the government. According to Faisal, these infrastructure projects are a waste. The projects in question are airports, ports and high-speed trains.